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Yusuf Raza Gilani

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Yousaf Raza Gillani
یوسف رضا گیلانی
File:Gillani.jpg
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Incumbent
Assumed office
25 March 2008
PresidentAsif Ali Zardari
Preceded byMuhammad Mian Soomro
Speaker of National Assembly
In office
17 October 1993 – 16 February 1997
Preceded byGohar Ayub Khan
Succeeded byElahi Bux Soomro
Personal details
Born (1952-06-09) 9 June 1952 (age 72)
Karachi, Dominion of Pakistan
Political partyPakistan Peoples Party
Spouse(s)Fauzia Gillani[1]
Residence(s)Multan, Pakistan
Alma materGovernment College University
University of the Punjab

Makhdoom Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani (Template:Lang-ur) (born 9 June 1952) is the 17th and current Prime Minister of Pakistan and Vice-Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). He was previously Speaker of the National Assembly (1993-1997) and a Federal Minister (1985-1986, 1989-1990).

He was nominated as Prime Minister by the PPP, with the support of its coalition partners, Pakistan Muslim League (N), Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement, on 22 March 2008.[2] He took the oath of office from President Pervez Musharraf on 25 March 2008.[3] Gilani is the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan from the Saraiki-speaking belt.[4] In 2009 Gillani was ranked as the 38th most powerful person in the world by Forbes following Prime Minister of Japan and Prime Minister of India.[5]

Family and education

Gillani was born in Karachi on 9 June 1952 . He belongs to an influential political family from Multan. His father was a descendant of Syed Musa Pak, a spiritual figure of the Qadiri Sufism order which traces its origins to Abdul-Qadir Gilani. Yousaf Raza's grandfather comes from Paktia Province, Afghanistan. Gilani did his intermediate from Forman Christian College.He attended Government College and obtained his B.A and M.A. in Journalism from University of the Punjab. Gillani is married and has four sons, one daughter, and one grandson.[6] His eldest son, Syed Makhdoom Abdul Qadir Gillani, started his own political career from Multan, and in 2008 he married the granddaughter of Pir Pagara Shah Mardan Shah II, an influential political and religious leader of Sindh. His three other sons—Ali Qasim Gillani, Ali Musa Gillani and Ali Haider Gillani—are triplets and two of them are studying abroad while Ali Haider Gillani is studying at Lahore School of Economics, Lahore. Ali Musa Gillani is now usually seen with his father, these days. His daughter's name is Fiza Gillani.
He is also famous for his scandalous affair with famous Pakistani Singer Naheed Akhtar in 1990s, with some rumors that he even married for some time after which she left singing.[7][8]

Political career

Gillani's political journey began during General Zia-ul-Haq's martial law in 1978. He joined the Central Working Committee of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML). He was also a cabinet member in the three-year government of Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo, and served as Minister of Housing and Works from April 1985 to January 1986 and as Railways Minister from January 1986 to December 1986.

After a short stint with the Muslim League, Gillani joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 1988. In the Benazir Bhutto government of 1988-1990, he was Minister of Tourism from March 1989 to January 1990 and Minister of Housing and Works from January 1990 to August 1990. Later, under another Bhutto government, he became Speaker of the National Assembly in October 1993, serving in that post until February 1997.

He has been elected various times as the Member of National Assembly from Multan. In the 2008 general election, he beat Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) leader Sikandar Hayat Bosan.

Imprisonment

Yousaf Raza Gillani was arrested on 11th February 2001, under the auspices of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an anti-corruption agency, set up by the military government in 1999, over charges that he misused his authority while he was Speaker of the National Assembly. Specifically, he was accused of hiring up to 600 people from among his constituents and placing them on the government's payroll.[9] The NAB claimed that Gillani inflicted a loss of Rs 30 million annually on the national exchequer.[10] He was convicted by an anti-corruption court formed by Musharraf and spent nearly six years in prison.[11]

The legal proceedings were perceived by many as politically motivated; his party, the PPP, was in opposition to Musharraf, who had embarked on a campaign to coerce party members to switch sides. Thus his conviction by Musharraf-backed courts and subsequent prison sentence are seen as marks of loyalty within the PPP. His imprisonment was widely condemned by various individuals across the country, including Mushahid Hussain Syed, a senior leader of the PML-Q.[citation needed] He was released on 7 October 2006 from Adiala Jail, after spending more than five years in captivity.[12]

Premiership

On 22 March 2008, the PPP nominated Gillani for the post of Prime Minister. PPP completed consultations with coalition partners about the Prime Minister and its allies endorsed the nomination. The formal announcement of the name of Prime Minister was expected to be made that night.

On 22 March at 9:38 pm Islamabad, (1638 GMT), he was officially announced by PPP as its candidate for the premiership of the country.

Many analysts said that they would not be surprised if Zardari succeeded Gillani after a few months. It was reported on 24 March 2008, that Zardari said he was not interested in the job of Prime Minister and that Gillani would serve until 2013 in the position. Speculation that Zardari might be gunning for the premiership grew stronger when he picked the less popular Gillani over Ameen Faheem, President of the PPP. Fahmida Mirza, the newly-elected Speaker of the Assembly, insists there is no plan to replace Gillani. She added, however, that if Gillani did not do a good job, all options were open.[13]

On 24 March 2008, Gillani was elected as Prime Minister by Parliament, defeating his rival, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi of the PML-Q, by a score of 264 to 42.[14] He was sworn in by Musharraf on the next day.[3] On 29 March, he won a unanimous vote of confidence in Parliament.[15]

Gillani with Hillary Rodham Clinton

On the same day, following the vote of confidence, Gillani announced the programme for the first 100 days of his administration. Some of the points he announced were:

  • Frontier Crimes Regulations and Industrial Relations Order repealed
  • PM House budget cut by 40 percent
  • No money to be spent on the renovation of government buildings and residences
  • Talks will be initiated with extremists who lay down arms and ‘adopt the path of peace’
  • A new package for tribal areas promised
  • Employment commission to be set up
  • Madressah authority to implement a uniform curriculum
  • One million housing units to be built annually for low-income groups
  • Irrigation channels to be bricklined.

The first part of Gillani's Cabinet was sworn in on 31 March. Of the 24 ministers sworn in on this occasion, 11 were members of the PPP, nine were members of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), two were members of the Awami National Party, one was from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, and one came from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Other appointments were expected to follow.[17]

On 13 May 2008, the PML (N) ministers resigned from Gillani's government due to a disagreement related to the reinstatement of judges whom Musharraf removed from office in 2007. Zardari, hoping to preserve the coalition, told Gillani to reject the resignations.[18]

At the close of 2008, Pakistan's The Financial Daily conducted a public poll on its website; respondants entered the names of their favourite personalities for the year, and Gillani was named among the top 50.[19]

In April 2010 he announced the Pakistan national energy policy to deal with the severe electricity shortage facing Pakistan.[20]

First public speech as Prime Minister

On 19 July 2008 at 11:06pm (Pakistan Standard Time), Gillani appeared on Pakistan Television (PTV) in his first address to the nation. The main points in his address were focused on the crisis of flour shortage, load-shedding, terrorism and extremism, restoration of judges, economic downslide and, above all, inflation and unemployment in the country.The speech was a disaster as a result of which prime minister looked confused on account of mismanagement by his staff.

2008 assassination attempt

Gillani escaped an assassination attempt on 3 September 2008 [21], when unidentified gunmen fired shots at his motorcade near the garrison city of Rawalpindi, officials said. The shooting occurred shortly after Gillani was returning from an official visit to the eastern city of Lahore. His motorcade was going to Islamabad from the high-security Chaklala military airbase in Rawalpindi. A spokesman for the Prime Minister's House said Gillani and members of his staff had escaped unhurt and were safe.He said police had been put on high alert and an investigation launched into the incident. The unidentified assailants fired at Gillani's motorcade on a highway. At least two shots hit the Prime Minister's bulletproof vehicle, TV channels quoted officials as saying. State-run PTV beamed footage of the damage caused by the bullets to the window of the driver's door of the vehicle. Reports said the incident occurred at a spot where former premier and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif's motorcade was fired at on 27 December last year, shortly before Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide bombing in Rawalpindi.

According to Gillani's press secretary, Zahid Bashir, a car carrying Gillani was hit by ten bullets in an attack near Islamabad on 3 September 2008; Bashir said that Gillani was unharmed.[22] The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.[23]

Gillani's Role in Chief Justice restoration

During the political crisis of March 2009, Prime Minister Gillani is credited with playing a central role in convincing the President Asif Ali Zardari to restore Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. This, according to some analysts, has strengthened his role as Prime Minister.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://pakistaniat.com/2008/03/24/profile-yousuf-raza-gllani-pakistan/comment-page-1/
  2. ^ PPP names choice for Pakistani PM BBC News, 22 March 2008
  3. ^ a b "U.S. diplomats court new Pakistani leaders", International Herald Tribune, 25 March 2008.
  4. ^ 'PML-Q faces defections in Seraiki belt' The News
  5. ^ "The World's Most Powerful People". Forbes. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
  6. ^ 'Would-be premier: a profile' Dawn, 23 March 2008
  7. ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_pak-pm-is-an-aishwarya-lata-fan_1157373
  8. ^ http://www.defence.pk/forums/members-club/54145-pm-has-triplets.html
  9. ^ Jane Perlez. 'Pakistani Party’s Leader Chooses a Prime Minister' The New York Times. 22 March 2008
  10. ^ Muhammad Najeeb. 'Top PPP leader held for graft' Tribune India, 12 February 2001
  11. ^ 'Gillani convicted to 5-year RI' Dawn Newspaper, 8 June 2002
  12. ^ Naveed Siddiqui. 'Release not part of deal: Gillani' The Nation, 7 October 2006
  13. ^ Bhutto's Former Bhutto aide expected to be new Pakistan prime minister CNN, 24 March 2008
  14. ^ "Pakistan assembly elects new PM", Al Jazeera, 24 March 2008.
  15. ^ "Pakistan PM gets vote of confidence", Al Jazeera, 29 March 2008.
  16. ^ Gillani wins unanimous trust vote: •Student, trade unions restored •Minimum wage fixed at Rs6,000 •Concurrent List to go •Wheat support price raised •Ministers restricted to 1600cc cars -DAWN - Top Stories; 30 March 2008
  17. ^ "24 members cabinet sworn in", onlinenews.com.pk.
  18. ^ "Pakistan's Zardari rejects ally's resignations", Reuters (International Herald Tribune), 16 May 2008.
  19. ^ The Financial Daily, 1 February 2009
  20. ^ "Pakistan's PM announces energy policy to tackle crisis". BBC. April 22, 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  21. ^ http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=90052&videoChannel=1&refresh=true
  22. ^ "Prime minister of Pakistan escapes gunfire, officials say", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 3 September 2008.
  23. ^ "Taliban claims responsibility for firing at PM motorcade in Pakistan", Xinhua, 3 September 2008.
  24. ^ "Yousuf Raza Gillani gains strength from shift of power in Pakistan", TimesOnline, 20 March 2009.
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Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of National Assembly
1993–1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Pakistan
2008–present 		Incumbent
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